Monday, December 17, 2012

Stop Bitching and Start Doing Something!

By Ron York

Everyday I read more articles about the plight of unionized work forces and how it is the result of a conspiracy. Football games are not lost because the other team threw a bomb. It is the failure of your team to properly defend your goal.
Think unions are the only entities on the endangered list? Been to Montgomery Wards lately? Flown TWA recently? Bought a Plymouth? Think you have a bank account at Bank of America or Wells Fargo? Well, my friend I have news for you, Bank of America and Wells Fargo do not exist today. They have long since been conquered and cannibalized by the First National Bank of Charlotte, North Carolina and the First National Bank of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Oh, the names and logos live on, but those banking bulwarks are dead. What happened to them? They became complacent, rigid, fat, lazy, rude, indifferent, inefficient and arrogant - just as police safety unions have during the last ten years.
When asked what went wrong, most of the people running and working for defunct companies said that they never thought it would happen to them. I can tell you, unequivocally, what happened? Change! Change has been the grime reaper of organizations and individuals since the beginning of time and will continue to be into infinity. Those who fight or resist change die. Change conquers all.
Police unions have been warned repeatedly over the last five years, but few have heeded those warnings, while continuing to regurgitate the same old trite message of entitlement. With the political backlash on public safety, most people unions have become cynical and pessimistic about the future, much like Bruce Dern's imaginary commence speech in "Middle Age Crazy." Adapt or Die! Does that remark even sound faintly familiar? It should. There is one person that has been shouting it from rooftops for over five years, but most have chosen to ignore the warning. Instead, they continue with the same old b.s. about their membership and their superior wisdom, while heralding how all the other police unions suck.
The future for law enforcement and police officers is bright. Your marketing agent, crime, is pumping your product 24-7. However, you are not going to reach that future driving that 1953 DeSoto you love so much. The police union landscape today looks like Havana with its pre-1959 automobiles. Dump the DeSoto for a 'Vette. Adapt or Die! As bad as things may appear, they are manageable, but you have to get off your ass and do something - something smart. Adapt or Die!
Police retirements can be saved, but not as most are currently structured. Adapt or Die! Even the Roman Catholic Church adapts to its environment. Islam, once an innovator, now clings to a stone age society, while surrounded on all four sides by modernity. When the oil money dries up, Islam will have a big problem. Try telling this message to one of your Islamic friends and see how well it it received. Just substitute police unions for Islam and easy money for oil money. Adapt or Die!
In order to adapt, you will need to know what is the correct adaptation. I can guarantee you it is not just more of the same old crap. Unfortunately, most of you are doing exactly that. Those who have tried to warn you are not the enemy, but you would not know that from the remarks that are currently being spouted by the blind.
I think the future is sun and blue skies. If you think the future sucks, watch Bruce Dern give the commencement address of all commencement addresses. I have embedded it below. The language is a little crude, but nothing you have not heard before.
p.s. I realize I dumped you without a conclusion or solution. It was intentional.